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Wednesday, March 14, 2018 1:00 am

Dad held in death of 10-week-old

JAMIE DUFFY | The Journal Gazette

Julio Carrillo, charged with neglect of a dependent in his son's death, told police he spanked his 10-week-old son when he changed his diaper because he got “fussy.”

The baby was still fussing when Carrillo, 19, of the 200 block of West Pontiac Street, picked him up and turned to walk out of the room, tripping over a baby swing. Carrillo told police he fell to the floor holding his son and the baby hit his head on the hardwood floor.

The diaper-changing occurred between 10 and 11 a.m. Monday after the baby's mother left at 9:20 a.m. to go to school, according to documents filed in Allen Superior Court.

By the time she returned about 1 p.m., the baby was not breathing right or acting right, the mother said. Although Carrillo tried to talk her out of it, she took the baby to his mother's house where relatives said the baby needed medical attention.

Just after 1:15 p.m., police were called. The infant died at a hospital at 4:55 p.m.

The coroner's office will conduct an autopsy and have toxicology tests done on the Carrillo baby, Deputy Coroner Christopher Meihls said. Toxicology tests typically take two weeks, he added.

At the hospital, a doctor reported that a head scan of the baby showed multiple brain bleeds and a depressed skull fracture. Injuries to his rectum showed bleeding tears and bruising on his buttocks covering the entire area, court records said.

The baby's mother said she saw bruising and bleeding in the rectum area when she returned to the home but didn't know what happened other than Carrillo said he spanked the infant.

Carrillo told police he inserted half a suppository laxative into the baby's rectum because of his constipation and he had not seen any injury there.

About 3 p.m., while the baby was in the hospital, Carrillo texted his sister asking “is he ok.”

Then he told his sister that he had spanked his son and fallen while holding the baby, court records said.

Carrillo was taken from the hospital to the police station for an interview. He told police he'd started living with the baby's mother just before his son's birth. He also said he was the only one at the home while the baby's mother was at school. The two had been dating for about two years, Carrillo said.

Carrillo is at the Allen County Jail being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

If the death is ruled a homicide, the baby will be the third child to die suspiciously in Allen County since the end of November.

On Nov. 29, Malakai Garrett, 2, was rushed to the hospital from his home on Palmetta Court while he was under the care of his mother's boyfriend, Mitchell Vanryn. He died a few hours later at the hospital. Vanryn has been charged with murder, aggravated battery and domestic battery that results in death in December. Malakai's mother, Amber Garrett, was charged at the end of January with neglect that results in serious bodily injury and neglect in a situation that endangers a child.

On Jan. 27, Jocelyn “JoJo” Belcher, also 2, was found unconscious in a home in the 200 block of East Butler Street. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The Allen County coroner's office said it is awaiting toxicology reports before it rules on her death.